Welcome to The Lowdown’s live blog of the 2009 NHL Trade Deadline. While most other leagues see their trade deadline come and go with relatively little fanfare, in Canada, the NHL deadline day is almost like a national holiday. All three Canadian sports networks will cancel their regularly scheduled programming and have live coverage of the deadline from 8:00 or 9:00 in the morning through to at least 5:00. Now I know that nothing much happens until about 10:00 when it seems that the West Coast GMs wake up and then it’s game on.

Keep refreshing this page throughout the day to keep up with all the breaking news and rumours.

9:50 AM: No trades yet. Chris Pronger (Anaheim) has been taken off the trading block. Montreal has added Olli Jokinen (Phoenix) to their wish list. Filip Kuba is rumoured to have signed an extension in Ottawa.

10:00 AM: Spoke too soon. Ottawa gets much needed goaltending help. They get Pascal Leclaire from Columbus for Antoine Vermette and a 2nd round pick.

10:15 AM: That Kuba extension is 3 years at $3.75M per season. News out of Toronto that Domenic Moore is now on the block and likely to be moved today.

10:43 AM: Tim Connolly signs an extension with Buffalo for 2 years at $4.5M per. Keith Tkachuk looks like he’s staying in St. Louis.

11:30 AM: Hockey Christmas? Not quite. All is quiet right now. No major rumours to talk of yet.

11:40 AM: Spoke too soon again. St. Louis sends Andy Wozniewski to Pittsburgh for Danny Richmond. Philly is making a charge for Jay Bouwmeester. Phoenix’s Olli Jokinen to Calgary looking more likely.

11:44 AM: Colorado’s Jordan Leopold to Calgary for Ryan Wilson, Lawrence Nycholat, and a 2nd round pick. Edmonton’s Erik Cole to Boston is the latest hot rumour but I wouldn’t count on this.

11:54 AM: That Erik Cole rumour could be to the wrong place. The Oilers are asking Atlanta about Slava Koslov and Colby Armstrong.

12:05 PM: Lunchtime in the east but no rest. Pheonix’s Mikael Tellqvist to Buffalo for a 4th round pick. Martin Gerber claimed by Toronto off re-entry waivers. Brendan Morrisson to Dallas off re-entry waivers.

12:45 PM: Phoenix’s Olli Jokinen to Calgary for Matthew Lombardi, Brandon Prust and a first round pick.

12:50 PM: Anaheim’s Steve Montador traded to Boston for Petteri Nokelainen.

1:40 PM: Tampa Bay’s Mark Recchi + 2010 2nd Round Pick to Boston for two prospects Matt Lashoff and Martins Karsums

1:58 PM Pittsburgh adding some grit to the team. NYI’s Bill Guerin has been traded to the Penguins for a conditional draft pick. That’s it? Wow.

3:28 PM I think I just missed out on the past hour of the trade deadline! What can I say? Apparently learning about phase equilibrium and Gibbs free energy was more important. The last minute trades are still being reported as I type this. The Flyers traded Scottie Upshall and a 2nd round pick for Phoenix’s Daniel Carcillo. I’ve always liked Scottie Upshall. He’s a good up and coming player. It does seem like Phoenix won this deal.

3:30 PM The so-called big trade in Leafs Nation isn’t that big after all. Nik Antropov has been moved to the Rangers for a 2nd round draft pick and a conditional pick. I guess Burkie’s high asking price drove away all the other deals.

3:32 PM Phoenix traded away Derek Morris to NYR for Nigel Dawes, Dmitri Kalinin and Petr Pruncha. The Coyotes really needed to load up the roster after giving up Jokinen and Morris.

3:33 PM Well I figured Dominic Moore wasn’t going to be worth much… Toronto has traded Moore to Buffalo for a 2nd round pick (via Carolina)

3:35 PM After spending the day selling the Ducks have finally landed a good young player. The Ducks traded Eric O’Dell for Atlanta’s Erik Christensen.

3:37 PM The Blue Jackets acquire Kevin Lalande from the Flames for a 4th round pick.

3:38 PM The Ducks continue their selling process by trading Samuel Pahlsson to Chicago for something that will be announced later. I always liked the shut-down line for the Ducks. Something’s got to give when the team is trying to get younger.

3:40 PM After a brief stint with the Lightning, Steve Eminger is moving from Tampa to Florida. It’s a fairly short travel for the guy. In return, the Lightning receives Noah Welch and a 4th round pick.

3:41 PM The Flyers receives Kyle McLaren from the Sharks for a 6th round pick.

3:45 PM Back the the Samuel Pahlsson trade. The Ducks receive James Wishnewski and a conditional draft pick.

3:49 PM The Hurricanes pick up Patrick O’Sullivan from the LA Kings. In return, the Kings get Justin Williams.

3:56 PM These late trades continue to pour in. The shut down line for the Ducks is officially dismantled. Travis Moen and Kent Huskins have been traded to divisional rivals San Jose Sharks for Nick Bonino, Timo Pielmeier and a conditional draft pick. Kent Huskins has always been a good defensive defenseman. The Sharks are really loading up on the D-man.

4:00 PM After spending the day hearing that Eric Cole isn’t moving anywhere, the Oilers move him to Carolina for Patrick O’Sullivan. Let’s hope O’Sullivan didn’t already book his ticket to Carolina!

Final Update Buffalo trades Ales Kotalik to Edmonton. The Sabres get a 2nd round pick in return. Burkie makes another move for the Leafs as he trades defenseman Richard Petiot to the Lightning for Olaf Kolzig, Jamie Heward, Andy Rogers and a 4th round pick.

Reporting after 12:30 PM by Jackie